The Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash

Surf A Little Torah
Yeshivat Har Etzion

by Rav David Silverberg

The third chapter of Sefer Bereishit tells the famous story of cheit Adam Ha-rishon – the sin committed by Adam and Chava by eating from the forbidden tree. Among the more common questions discussed when studying this account is, what tempted Adam and Chava to such an extent, that they would violate an explicit instruction of the Almighty? True, as the Torah says, "The woman saw that the tree was good for eating and a delight to the eyes" (3:6). Nevertheless, the question remains, why was she – and her husband – unable to resist this temptation? God allowed them to partake of all other fruits in the garden to their hearts' content. Why did Adam and Chava decide to eat from the forbidden tree?

A novel and insightful approach to this fundamental question was suggested by Rav Moshe Leib Shachor, in his "Avnei Shoham." One view in the Gemara (Sanhedrin 70b) claims that the "fruit" that Adam ate was actually "chita" – wheat. What drove Adam and Chava to eat wheat? It would appear that according to this view, what Adam and Chava ate was bread. Herein, claims Rav Shachor, lies the critical difference between this "tree" and the rest of the garden. The other food in the garden was all prepared and ready to eat. Adam and Chava needed merely to take it with their hands and enjoy. Wheat, however, requires processing and effort before it becomes edible. And this is exactly what Adam craved. He wanted to enjoy the satisfaction of reaping the fruits of one's own labors, rather than having everything readymade. The "delight" of bread was the gratification of fruitful effort, a feeling that Adam could not experience by eating any other food in the garden.

This approach sheds new light on Adam's punishment, as well: "Cursed be the ground because of you; by toil shall you eat of it all the days of your life: thorns and thistles shall it sprout for you, and your food shall be the grasses of the field. By the sweat of your brow shall you get bread to eat… " (3:17-19). Adam preferred the gratification of personal effort over the worry-free accessibility of food in the Garden of Eden, and was thus banished from the garden and given personal responsibility over his livelihood. If he wished to enjoy the feeling of working and succeeding, then he must forfeit the security and reliability of Gan Eden. No longer will God serve him his food readymade; he must now wrestle with the stubborn soil and erratic patterns of the natural elements. He is thus guaranteed the possibility of experiencing the satisfaction of reaping the fruits of his labor, but at the same time, he must endure the anxiety and frustrations of working for his own bread.

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Yeshivat Har Etzion
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